Help with formatting hard drive for Time Machine

macrumors 601

So I am coming over from PC and have just got done copying over files from an NTFS external to my new iMac via Paragon.

I now want to erase and set up my external hard drive for a backup. How do I format it? Should I leave it NTFS since I have Paragon? Or is it better to format it first so it's friendlier for Mac (not sure how to do this)?

macrumors newbie

If you want to use TimeMachine, I would format is as 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)'. Open /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility, select your external drive, select 'Erase', select 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' as the Format and give it a name.

If you want to use TimeMachine, I would format is as 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)'. Open /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility, select your external drive, select 'Erase', select 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' as the Format and give it a name.

Obviously, be certain you're not doing this to your primary OS drive.

Click to expand...

I will try this thanks guys. I have another question what if I wanted to back up with CCC instead how should I format it then? I haven't fully decided yet on which way to go.

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